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Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:35:45 +0000en-UShourly1Montreal Fall Sports Rounduphttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/montreal-fall-sports-roundup/
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/montreal-fall-sports-roundup/#commentsTue, 16 Sep 2014 20:44:26 +0000Jamie O'Mearahttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/?p=83729It doesn’t get more exciting than the fall months for Montreal sports aficionados: not only are all three of the city’s professional sports franchises – the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes and Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact – in full regular season swing, fans hungry for all forms of competition have a varied plate to dine on The Canadiens will open their season against historical arch-rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 8 in Toronto, and will play their home opener against the similarly vilified Boston Bruins on Oct. 16 at the Bell Centre. For the second time in recent years they will play without a de facto captain, instead sharing leadership responsibilities across four assistant captains on a team that will feature many new faces. Speaking of the Bell Centre, pro basketball fans will want to take note that the Toronto Raptors will jump off against the storied New York Knicks for a preseason game on Oct. 24 for the third edition of the annual NBA Canada Series. Following the January retirement of beloved star quarterback Anthony Calvillo after 20 seasons in the CFL, Montreal’s Alouettes have struggled through a rebuilding year, with the perennial Grey Cup contenders... / Read More →

It doesn’t get more exciting than the fall months for Montreal sports aficionados: not only are all three of the city’s professional sports franchises – the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes and Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact – in full regular season swing, fans hungry for all forms of competition have a varied plate to dine on

The Canadiens will open their season against historical arch-rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 8 in Toronto, and will play their home opener against the similarly vilified Boston Bruins on Oct. 16 at the Bell Centre. For the second time in recent years they will play without a de facto captain, instead sharing leadership responsibilities across four assistant captains on a team that will feature many new faces.

Speaking of the Bell Centre, pro basketball fans will want to take note that the Toronto Raptors will jump off against the storied New York Knicks for a preseason game on Oct. 24 for the third edition of the annual NBA Canada Series.

Following the January retirement of beloved star quarterback Anthony Calvillo after 20 seasons in the CFL, Montreal’s Alouettes have struggled through a rebuilding year, with the perennial Grey Cup contenders sporting an atypical 3-8 record at the time of this writing. All of which means little to the team’s loyal fan base: the striking outdoor Molson-Percival Stadium on the eastern flank of Mount-Royal is always one of the most exciting places to be in the city when the Als are in town.

In recent years football mania in Quebec has also extended to the Canadian university football championship, called the Vanier Cup, in large part due to the dominance of Quebec City’s Laval Rouge et Or, the current reigning champions. This year the Vanier Cup will celebrate 50 years of existence with several special events in coordination with the Nov. 29 championship game at Molson-Percival Stadium, the very first time the Cup has been held in Montreal.

If you missed out on the annual grand spectacle of the Grands Prix Cyclistes which took place across a broad swathe of Montreal on Sept. 14 (and which is one of only two elite-level, UCI World Tour–sanctioned bike races held in North America each year), it’s not too late to take Montreal Marathon and Half Marathon, a part of the international Rock’n’Roll Marathon Series which sees live bands and other forms of entertainment spread out across the lengths of the varying marathons. The 2013 marathon set a new record with over 32,000 runners from more than 30 countries. The 2014 edition, which features five separate marathons, takes place Sept. 28.

And if ultimate frisbee is more your flavour of outdoor fun, then take note of the 10th North American Grand Masters Championship for male players over the age of 40, and female participants over 35, which will be held on the grounds of the Douglas Hospital, Sept. 27-28.

]]>http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/montreal-fall-sports-roundup/feed/0Things to Do in Montreal: October 18-24http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/things-to-do-in-montreal-october-18-24/
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/things-to-do-in-montreal-october-18-24/#commentsThu, 17 Oct 2013 19:33:01 +0000Robyn Faddenhttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/?p=52722Montreal finds itself at the height of autumnal glory this week, not only in its colourful falling leaves, breezy days and Halloween preparations, but with the onset of hockey season, complemented by an NBA basketball game and all kinds of film screenings, live music, and world-class dance and theatre productions… (early Halloween for all) The scary stuff starts this weekend at the Pointe-à-Callière history museum’s Jack O’Lantern Tour: tour an authentic archaeological site, hear ghost stories, learn more about the cultural origins of Halloween, October 19-20 starting at 12:30 p.m. Also at the museum, beginning October 23, the Lives and Times of the Plateau exhibition offers a peek into one of the city’s most picturesque and story-filled neighbourhoods. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra gets in on the ghost act too with its Children’s Corner: Phantoms of the Orchestra show, featuring a show by Magic Circle Mime artists and spooky music by Bach, Kodaly, and more, at the Maison Symphonique on October 20 at 1:30 p.m. (film life) International film festival Festival du Nouveau Cinema ends this weekend in a flurry of films, including La Danza de la Realidad the long-awaited new feature from Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain), Jia Zhang Ke’s... / Read More →

Montreal finds itself at the height of autumnal glory this week, not only in its colourful falling leaves, breezy days and Halloween preparations, but with the onset of hockey season, complemented by an NBA basketball game and all kinds of film screenings, live music, and world-class dance and theatre productions…

(early Halloween for all) The scary stuff starts this weekend at the Pointe-à-Callière history museum’s Jack O’Lantern Tour: tour an authentic archaeological site, hear ghost stories, learn more about the cultural origins of Halloween, October 19-20 starting at 12:30 p.m. Also at the museum, beginning October 23, the Lives and Times of the Plateau exhibition offers a peek into one of the city’s most picturesque and story-filled neighbourhoods. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra gets in on the ghost act too with its Children’s Corner: Phantoms of the Orchestra show, featuring a show by Magic Circle Mime artists and spooky music by Bach, Kodaly, and more, at the Maison Symphonique on October 20 at 1:30 p.m.

(film life) International film festival Festival du Nouveau Cinema ends this weekend in a flurry of films, including La Danza de la Realidad the long-awaited new feature from Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain), Jia Zhang Ke’s Cannes winner A Touch of Sin, ocean adventure-thriller All in Lost, starring Robert Redford, Canadian doc From Neurons To Nirvana: The Great Medicines, and Taiwan-based filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang’s meditative Stray Dogs, plus a special presentation of the films of Jonas Mekas, and a number of experimental short films and multimedia events. For the full schedule see FNC’s site. As well, Montreal’s own Stop-Motion Animation Festival shows films that celebrate the art form, from Gumby to A Nightmare Before Christmas, and invites experts in the field to talk about their work, October 18-20.

(game on) Hockey season is once again in full force in Montreal, with the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Nashville Predators on October 19, the Edmonton Oilers on October 22, and the Anaheim Ducks on October 24, at home at the Bell Centre. But there’s something in store this weekend for basketball fans too: the NBA Canada Series welcomes the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics in a pre-season game on October 20 at the Bell Centre, preceded by a meet-and-greet with players before the game, an NBA FIT Clinic with Robert Parish at Sun Youth Organization on Friday, and basketball activities for all during the NBA BIG Tour at Promenades St-Bruno on Saturday.

(dance tales) Fairytales find themselves retold and rearranged this week: Sleeping Beauty is retold in contemporary ballet by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek and danced by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, on until October 26.And Local dance troupe Manon fait de la danse presents free performances of Où est Blanche-Neige? featuring eight different dancers as Snow White, tip-toeing through their urban environment as if in a dream and becoming much more than fairytale women – atEspace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme in Place des Arts, October 18, 23-25 at 7 p.m. And do some dancing of your own at Place des Arts’ Le Bal du Dimanche on October 20 as Chantal Dauphinais teaches a free swing dance class at 2 p.m.

(theatre stories) Montreal’s Imago Theatre impressively takes on Greek tragedy to show sides of the global epidemic of violence against women in Governor General’s award-winning play If We Were Birds, at Centaur Theatre to October 19. In lighter fare, Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show sings and dances the night away at the Segal Centre, while comedy The St. Leonard Chronicles laughs it up with Montreal’s Italian community at the Centaur Theatre to October 27. A true made-in-Montreal production, Black Theatre Workshop‘s Sal Capone: The Lamentable Tragedy of blends theatre and hip hop, inspired by the tragic police shooting of Fredy Villanueva, playing at the MAI. And the fabulously entertaining and experimental Phenomena Festival takes over an abandoned swimming pool and several other Mile End neighbourhood venues with music, dance, theatre, puppetry and performance art, October 18-29.

(live music) Friday night starts out with Canadian punk-pop band Billy Talent at Metropolis, and rad rock n’ rollers Hollerado at Cabaret Mile End, while over at Place des Arts, Supertramp co-founder Roger Hodgson stops in with a new band and the Orchestre Métropolitain takes us back to the year 1913 with Debussy, Prokofiev, and Stravinski at the Maison Symphonique. On October 19, French singer, actress and model Lou Doillon brings her romantic songs to L’Olympia, with opening act Kandle, the Montreal Ska Festival hosts a 5th anniversary party at Club Soda, Philadelphia’s Man Man experiments with rock at Il Motore, and the Queen of Fado, Mariza, performs traditional and original songs in her soulful style, at Place des Arts. On October 21, none other than hip hop megastar Drake makes the Bell Centre shake, while the Montreal Jazz Fest presents actor-musician Hugh Laurie performing songs from new blues-influenced album Didn’t It Rain, at the Maison Symphonique, and Simple Minds returns on a Greatest Hits Tour at Metropolis. October 23 sees Franz Ferdinand return with new material from the album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, at Metropolis. On October 24, Montreal musician Betty Bonifassi, one half of the duo Beast, performs solo in concert Tribute to Slave Songs, applying her signature electro-folk style to black music of 1920s America, at the Phi Centre. Meanwhile, Disappears gets loud and psychedelic at Il Motore, and legendary British electronic band The Orb shifts the cosmos with their classic ambient-house sound, at the SAT.

]]>http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/things-to-do-in-montreal-october-18-24/feed/0Sports in Montreal: NBA, UFC, Lacrosse and morehttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/sports-in-montreal-nba-ufc-lacrosse-and-more/
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/sports-in-montreal-nba-ufc-lacrosse-and-more/#commentsWed, 16 Oct 2013 20:39:44 +0000Jamie O'Mearahttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/?p=52400While it’s that time of the year when most Montreal hockey and football fans are focused, laser-like, on the fortunes of the just-getting-started Montreal Canadiens and the coming-down-the-home-stretch Montreal Alouettes respectively, there’s a lot more sports life out there than just the big tickets… Indeed, the Habs and the Alouettes aside, Montreal supports a diverse sports base, as illustrated by the sharp ascension in popularity of its Major League Soccer pro soccer franchise, the Montreal Impact. Based out of the newly expanded Saputo Stadium, located beside the Olympic Stadium, the Impact are currently battling for their first-ever playoff spot, with three key, determining games left in the season, including one home game against the Philadelphia Union on October 19. In what is becoming an increasingly common, and welcome, initiative, professional basketball (NBA) and baseball (MLB) teams are playing exceptionally well attended pre-season games, and this year is no different. Baseball-hungry Montrealers, who lost their beloved Expos in 2004, have already snapped up more than 40,000 tickets for two MLB exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets at Olympic Stadium on March 28 and 29, 2014. Pro basketball fans will get a taste of their game... / Read More →

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While it’s that time of the year when most Montreal hockey and football fans are focused, laser-like, on the fortunes of the just-getting-started Montreal Canadiens and the coming-down-the-home-stretch Montreal Alouettes respectively, there’s a lot more sports life out there than just the big tickets…

Indeed, the Habs and the Alouettes aside, Montreal supports a diverse sports base, as illustrated by the sharp ascension in popularity of its Major League Soccer pro soccer franchise, the Montreal Impact. Based out of the newly expanded Saputo Stadium, located beside the Olympic Stadium, the Impact are currently battling for their first-ever playoff spot, with three key, determining games left in the season, including one home game against the Philadelphia Union on October 19.

In what is becoming an increasingly common, and welcome, initiative, professional basketball (NBA) and baseball (MLB) teams are playing exceptionally well attended pre-season games, and this year is no different. Baseball-hungry Montrealers, who lost their beloved Expos in 2004, have already snapped up more than 40,000 tickets for two MLB exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets at Olympic Stadium on March 28 and 29, 2014. Pro basketball fans will get a taste of their game in the much nearer future when the Boston Celtics square off against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Bell Centre, October 20, with tickets still available here.

For those who like their competitive sports on the rough and tumble side, as many Quebecers do, there are two not-to-be-missed events coming up on the calendar. First, the bi-yearly World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, which pits long-running rivals Team Canada against the Iroquois Nationals for a fourth consecutive World Championship matchup (Team Canada has won all three previous contests) at the Bell Centre, November 17.

And last, but not by a long shot least, UFC-crazy Montreal will get its itch scratched when mixed martial arts (MMA) hometown hero and bona fide cultural icon Georges St-Pierre (24-2-0) defends his welter weight title against popular, number-one ranked Dallas fighter Johny Hendricks (15-1-0) on November 17. Trash talk from both camps in the lead-up should make for a good one, and while the bout will be fought in Las Vegas, downtown Montreal sports bars like Winnies, Sharx, La Station des Sports and La Cage aux Sports, as well as Champs on Saint-Laurent, will all draw huge crowds for coverage of this latest challenge to GSP’s legacy.

]]>http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/sports-in-montreal-nba-ufc-lacrosse-and-more/feed/0THINGS TO DO IN MONTREAL: OCTOBER 19-25http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/things-to-do-in-montreal-october-19-25/
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/things-to-do-in-montreal-october-19-25/#commentsFri, 19 Oct 2012 19:24:12 +0000Robyn Faddenhttp://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/?p=7502Art and entertainment merge this week in Montreal with two international film festivals, a festival of experimental performance and music, a gorgeous ballet, thought-provoking theatre and art that brings Montreal closer to Brooklyn. Plus there’s NBA basketball, Olympic-level hockey, pre-Halloween festivities, and lots of live music.

]]>Art and entertainment merge this week in Montreal with two international film festivals, a festival of experimental performance and music, a gorgeous ballet, thought-provoking theatre and art that brings Montreal closer to Brooklyn. Plus there’s NBA basketball, Olympic-level hockey, pre-Halloween festivities, and lots of live music…

(film fest fun) The final weekend of the Festival du Nouveau Cinema has arrived, but there are still plenty of all-new feature films, shorts and documentaries to see, from closing film Camille Redouble by Noémie Lvovsky to an autobiography of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman to concert films about Peaches and The Chemical Brothers, plus a multimedia, multi-DJ “Suicide Hotel” party on Friday night and closing party on Saturday night with DJ Thomas von PARTY, at Quartier Général. Meanwhile, the 4th edition of the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival, October 19-21, screens over 70 new stop-motion animation films from Montreal and around the world.

(intrigue on stage) Explore the Plateau and Mile End neighbourhoods via a true Montreal creation: The Phénomena Festival, to October 26. The festival of music, performance and art, is a reinvention of the 10-year-old Festival Voix d’Amériques, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful, strange and poetic artistic voices in this city and further afield. see artist and musician Genisis P-Orridge on stage with spoken-word group Thee Majesty on October 20 at Cabaret du Mile End, in film The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye at Excentris, and with art showing at La Centrale; as well, see Kobol’s marionette show Voodoo at Usine C, Kabin tells 15 stories via 15 small booths on October 20, duo 2boys.tv span the history of their performance career in Generation on October 21, plus free music and performances every evening at 5 p.m. at Divan Orange, featuring Teen Sleuth, Free Opera Ensemble, Jef Barbara and many more, as well as free open mic nights at 11 p.m. at Casa del Popolo.

(frightful & delightful)Halloween starts early this year in Montreal. If you’re downtown at Place des Arts in the Quartier des Spectacles on Saturday around noon, don’t panic: the zombie apocalypse is not upon us, it’s just people dressed up for the Montreal Zombie Walk – join in if you’re zombie-inclined. Freaks of a different sort sing and dance for our pleasure in The Rocky Horror Show, garnering some great reviews at Mainline Theatre, to October 20. And there’s also something a little freaky – in the most awesome sense – about DJ Food’s The Search Engine, an all-encompassing audio-visual experience like no other, screening in the dome of the surround-sound Satosphere at the SAT, to October 26.

(sports fans) A pro first for Montreal this week: the NBA Canada series pits the New York Knicks against the Toronto Raptors, October 19 at the Bell Centre. And while the NHL season is sadly on hold due to labour talks among hockey players and the league, the spirit of hockey is still strong in Montreal with national women’s hockey champions The Stars, featuring Olympic national team players Kim St-Pierre, Meghan Agosta, Caroline Ouellette and more. The Stars play Boston on October 20 at 5 p.m. and October 21 at 1 p.m. at Étienne Desmarteau Arena.(tragedy & comedy) An epic 10th-century Japanese folk tale comes to life in choreographer Jiří Kylián’s Kaguyahime, The Moon, produced beautifully by Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, October 11-27. Quebecois playwright Suzie Bastien probes the human psyche in the dramatic The Medea Effect, at Theatre La Chapelle, to October 20. Old Montreal’s Centaur Theatre features Scapegoat Theatre’s take on Euripedes’ tragedy The Bacchae, to October 20, as well as Quebecois playwright Jean Marc Dalpé’s family drama August, An Afternoon in the Country. Meanwhile, the Segal Centre lightens the mood with Broadway musical Guys and Dolls to October 31, and well-known and even well-loved Montreal comedian and Just For Laughs festival veteran Joey Elias brings his One Man Show at Club Soda on October 21.

(urban art)The Montréal/Brooklyn collaborative contemporary art project makes its mark on the city’s gallery scene this weekend, highlighting the artistic similarities and differences between the two urban centres. On Friday and Saturday, new shows open at Centre Clark and artist-run centre articule, as well at galleries in the Belgo building – Galerie SAS, Optica, Galerie Division and Les Territoires – and down the street at Galerie de l’UQAM, featuring multi-artist Vidéozones exhibition (above), and the Musée d’art contemporain, featuring work by Janet Biggs and Aude Moreau.

(live music) Friday night is indie-rock alright with Cat Power playing tunes from her new album Sun at Metropolis, The Sea & Cake at Il Motore, Dragonette at the Corona Theatre, and Brooklyn electro duo Blondes at Le Belmont. Pittsburg rapper Wiz Khalifa, rolls into town with Juicy J, Chevy Woods and many others at Uniprix Stadium on October 20. Monday night goes punk with Off!, The Spits and Double Negative at Foufounes Electriques. On October 23, Dan Mangan brings his folk-rock sensibility to Theatre Corona, San Francisco’s Sic Alps play Divan Orange. The Jezabels rock Cabaret Mile End and Social Distortion shake up Metropolis. Montreal’s Papagroove release their newest album on October 24 at Theatre Plaza – free! Akousma 9, a festival of digital music, brings its immersive audio-visual wonders to Usine C, October 24-27. And the ‘80s are back with Air Supply in an “intimate evening” on October 25 at Metropolis.